Who Has Gas? *grin*

H

Higgy

Joined
Dec 31, 2002
Messages
79
Aha! You just had to peek at this thread, didn't you?

Actually, I am wondering how many of you forge with gas. What kind of forge do you use? How much gas do you consume? Do you use Natural Gas, LP, or Propane?

The reason I ask is because I know little to nothing about gas forges and was wondering if any of you thought the Forgemaster "Blacksmmith" model was a good unit. I live out in the woods here in NH, and will probably have to buy my own cylinders and have them refilled.

I would greatly appreciate some advice on this. Thanks!

Jeff
 
Higgy I think you will find that almost all bladesmiths use propane forges for their work. Coal is just to big a mess to keep up with anymore for most of us. The forgemaster you mentioned will do the job but again most bladesmiths build their own forges. They are not hard to make. A little common sense in building and operating a forge is all that is required. I have three different gas forges personally. A horizontal and 2 verticals for damascus work. How much fuel do they use -- depends on how hard you run and for how long. Hope this helps.
 
I forge using propane. However, when time permits, I want to get into making and forging with charcoal.
 
I use propane, works great. I'm currently using a homemade venturi burner in a small forge I made myself. Soon I'll have a much better vertical propane forge with a much more adjustable blower made.

As soon as I can build another small forge I have about 300 lbs. of charcoal, the traditional fuel of choice for bladesmiths. You just can't beat propane for ease of use and availability however.
 
Higgy: I also use gas. The forge are really easy to build. Our (NECKA) hammer-in is coming up in April, you should try to make it down here.
 
Hey Indian George, where is the hammerin going to be and when? I'd love to go.

Jeff
 
Jeff: The Hammer-In will be held at my shop in New Bedford, MA. The date will be late to mid April. We are checking out what other events that are occuring in this month.
You have a open invite to come down here anytime. I can show you how to build a forge, hydraulic press and etc.
 
I got a propane tank like you use with your grill, and it's lasting a long time. I'd estimate you could run your forge for a couple full days off one tank. (I've never filled in in about a year and a half, it's still half full.)
 
I forge using propane, but we just got a new forge that uses natural gas...I can't wait until we get it setup! :D
 
http://www.reil1.net/ Ron Reils page has just about everything you could ever want to know about home built gas and especially propane forges. I have a Freon tank forge and will be building another that size and a larger one this summer. If I can build one anyone can. The regular BBQ grill size tanks (20 pound?) last me quite a while, but I think the next larger size (40 pound?) would be a good investment and not that much tougher to handle or store. Some people seem to have a problem with the smaller tanks freezing, but I have only had it happen a couple of times, usually when the tank was getting low on fuel.

Todd
 
For welding temps, I run about 12 psi in my forge. The interior dims are 4 x 4 x 18. I have a single ron reil style burner with a #60 jet. I burn about 2 pounds of LP per hour, so a 20 pound tank (bbq size) lasts about 10 hours.

I would love to change over to Natty Gas. Anybody have any good plans for that?
 
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